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Description
In the context of the ESA tender "Thermally Enhanced Power Unit Housing using Embedded Two-Phase Technology, ARTES Advanced Technology”, a consortium composed by the Energy (prime) and Mechanical Engineering departments of Politecnico di Milano, Leonardo S.p.A., BeamIT S.p.A. and Apogeo Space S.r.L. has worked on project HPS2 (Heat Pipe Solutions for High Power Systems), aimed at developing an engineering model of an electronic box, containing three single-piece modules with embedded heat pipes, realized mostly by Additive Manufacturing, in particular Selective Laser Melting (SLM) of AlSi10Mg, with the objective to transport waste heat as directly as feasible from the electronic components to an heat sink.
The worst case hot main requirement is to transport a total of 300 W towards a heat sink at 65 °C, while maintaining a maximum temperature below 100 °C, with the box in vertical position and Earth gravity.
The development process included the wick choice, single heat pipes thermal performance tests for various geometries and configurations, the mechanical design and verification of the modules, the fill-tubes and the assemblies, and the fabrication of the final engineering model.
The final tests, carried out with acetone as working fluid, highlight the contribution of the heat pipes in reducing the hot spot temperature by 20 °C in horizontal configuration with respect to the vertical one, while the performance gains are reduced, but still measurable, as the inclination against gravity is increased.
Moreover, tests at 150 W and 300 W of input power have been carried out for baseplate temperatures ranging from -15 °C to 40 °C and climatic chamber temperatures from -20 °C to 40 °C in vertical and horizontal configurations.
This work shows both the roadmap of the developed technologies within the project and the final thermal test results.
